1. Field of the Disclosure
This invention relates to mobile communications.
2. Description of Related Art
The “background” description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description which may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly or implicitly admitted as prior art against the present invention.
Many mobile communications devices make use of so-called SIMs.
A SIM (subscriber identification module) is typically a secure data storage device embodied as a small form factor flat card which is insertable into a mobile communications device. The SIM carries certain data which uniquely identifies the user or owner of that SIM. Some of this data is transmitted across the mobile network to identify the user equipment (UE) into which the SIM is inserted, and some is kept secret within the SIM (and within a secure database held by the mobile network operator) for use in generating encryption keys for secure data transmission across the network.
In many countries there is a requirement that the SIM fits into a socket in the UE which is accessible by the user. This is to allow the user to choose a different card if he/she desires. In turn, this allows the user to select a different mobile network operator or a different network tariff. The ability for the user to do this is required by the competition law of many countries.
Having said this, some devices such as the Amazon® Kindle® electronic book reading device contain a SIM which is inaccessible to the user. This type of SIM will be referred to as an “embedded” SIM, though of course in the case of embedded SIMs, the word “card” often associated with “SIM” does not necessarily have any sensible meaning and does not imply any particular shape or form factor for the circuitry providing the SIM functionality. In other words, the user cannot choose a different network operator for mobile data access using this particular book reading device, but this is allowable because the device does not allow open internet access over the mobile network.
The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) has recognised the future potential of including the functionality of a SIM (or, more generally, of a “UICC” or universal integrated circuit card) into a wide variety of devices. In general terms, this will provide communication functions to types of devices which have operated independently (that is, not using a mobile network) in the past. The way in which this would be carried out would be to embed the UICC in such a way that the UICC is not generally accessible or replaceable by the user.
ETSI has established a working group to look into the issues generated by the use of embedded UICC devices. This work is carried out by the ETSI TC Smart Card Platform group #48, and a document specifying a work item to address standardisation requirements has been accepted as SCP(11)0146r1, which is available at: http://portal.etsi.org/portal/server.pt/community/scp/333 and is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
This ETSI document recognises the need for the user to be able to change network subscriptions on devices with embedded wireless wide area network (WWAN) connectivity, which in turn has prompted the proposal to develop new methods for securely and remotely provisioning access credentials on embedded UICC devices. The scope of work defined by the document covers “defining use cases and corresponding requirements for remote personalisation and subscription management of . . . an embedded UICC including its integration in telecommunication network infrastructures”.